If you’ve been in the vicinity of a small retail center in the far eastern portion of the Wilmington Island business district this month, you might have noticed the enticing aroma of baked goods wafting through the mid-morning air.

Those savory smells are emanating from a corner of the shopping center — which is on Johnny Mercer Boulevard just east of Penn Waller Road — where islander Charlotte Dixon is baking up a sweet storm.

She opened Charlotte’s Confections in early January, in the process bringing something unique to the island — a freestanding bakery.

I’ve lived on Wilmington for the past 26 years, and I can’t recall us ever having a retail business solely devoted to offering baked goods.

There are, of course, bakeries that are parts of the island’s two supermarkets, and there was for a time a shop that sold bagels that were made on site.

But Charlotte’s one-person operation at 6705 Johnny Mercer appears to be a distinctive endeavor, and her repertoire of goodies includes cinnamon rolls, breakfast tarts, quiche, cookies, cakes, pies, cheesecakes, cupcakes, homemade bread and rolls, and what she calls “seasonal specials” — all of them baked daily on the premises.

If you haven’t already stopped by Charlotte’s bakery, you’ll have the opportunity to try her wares from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday during a grand-opening party featuring free samples of chocolate éclairs, “special cookies and bars” and light hors d’oeuvres.

Charlotte, who’s lived on Wilmington for about 25 years, had been retired for about a year when she got the urge to get back into the baking business in August.

Prior to retiring, Charlotte told me she had worked for a total of 17 years as a chef at two bed and breakfast inns in downtown Savannah, so she had lots of experience as a baker.

“I thought about baking for bed and breakfasts,” she said during an interview last week, “but that seemed boring.”

Charlotte was taken with the idea of operating her own bakery, and a vacancy at her current location “opened up about the same time I started thinking about it,” she said.

After she had two commercial ovens installed at her shop, did some painting and had work done on the electrical and plumbing components and a handicap-accessible bathroom, Charlotte opened for business Jan. 3.

In addition to her baked items, she also offers coffee, tea and sandwiches, and she’s hoping to create an “early morning trade.”

Doing so would give the island something else it appears to be missing — a café-type spot where folks can stop by and linger awhile over a cup of coffee and something sweet.

That apparently would suit Charlotte just fine.

“I love it,” she said of her new endeavor, “That I can work here, talk to people — it’s very social.”

Charlotte’s Confections is open from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.